X Empire, a popular Telegram tap-to-earn game, is now allowing pre-trading of airdrop tokens through NFT vouchers. Users can see how many vouchers they can mint through the app, then, after minting, they can trade the NFTs on secondary marketplace Getgems. Each voucher is worth 69,000 airdrop tokens.
The developers of X Empire have said that the NFTs only represent “a portion” of each user’s airdrop token allocation. Although the NFT vouchers are a move out of the Notcoin playbook, there are differences between the two tap-to-earn games. X Empire has more gameplay elements, which could lead to the developers considering more factors for the airdrop allocations.
On Getgems, the floor price of the “Buy Now” X Empire NFTs is 4.5 TON or $23.44. The minimum bid available for the NFTs that are up for auction is 1 TON or $4.21. There are just 19,000 vouchers available, which accounts for 2% of the total airdrop supply of 69 billion tokens. Minting the NFTs is optional; users can still wait for the actual airdrop, which will occur in late September or early October. There is a 20% royalty fee on each sale of a X Empire NFT, going to the dev team.
X Empire is part of a new wave of simple, play-to-earn games that have emerged on Telegram this year. Launched in July, it amassed over 18 million players in a few weeks. The gameplay involves clicking on a cartoonish Elon Musk face, an action that earns the player in-game currency. They can then use the currency to upgrade their Elon Musk team and bet on fake stocks.
The team behind X Empire has said the airdrop token will take place on the TON blockchain, which the creators of Telegram built. While the team will allocate small percentages of the tokens to themselves and the launchpools, the majority will go directly to the community. In a post on X, the team warned that no one knows the initial price of the airdrop token, so users should take caution trading the NFT vouchers.
Telegram Games on the Rise
Telegram games and mini-apps have become one of the hottest stories in 2024, with popular tap-to-earn games amassing millions of players in short periods of time. The games, with simple mechanics, have promises of airdrops, allowing players to convert their in-game currency into crypto, which they can then cash out for the fiat of their choice. We’ve covered a few stories of this trend. Here are three.
First, last week, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu, said that Telegram games will facilitate large-scale Web3 adoption. Siu said that Telegram offers a distribution model for Web3 games that previously had not existed in the space. He specifically mentioned Hamster Kombat, which surpassed 300 million users earlier this year.
Next, TON Ventures made an investment into Animoca Brands subsidiary Gamee to further empower the studio’s gaming ecosystem and integrate TON-based assets into its games. The move follows an investment from Animoca Brands into TON in November of 2023, connecting the two companies even further.
Lastly, two months ago, Pixelverse integrated a famous Pudgy Penguins character into its Telegram game. “Pudgy” is now featured in Pixeltap, a tap-to-earn game that also allows players to fight in PVP battles. Now, with the new integration, players who own a Pudgy Penguin NFT can use that as their avatar in the game.
As these stories show, Telegram games are the new hot topic in Web3, rising high even as the market treads water and memecoins have taken a backseat. Rarity Sniper will look out for any developments in the story and update this article if needed.